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No. 753 - WHY SOCIALISM WON'T WORK

No. 753
Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN
WHY SOCIALISM WON’T WORK

The late American editor and craftsman, Elbert Hubbard, (1856-1915) was pretty savvy and I have quoted him often. In today’s edition I want to talk with you for the umpteenth time about why socialism won’t work.
Here is what Elbert Hubbard had to say about it. “Socialism is a plan by which the inefficient, irresponsible, ineffective, unemployable, and unworthy will thrive without industry, persistence or economy.” This about says it all. Unfortunately, Mr. Hubbard is not around today to add a little balance to an otherwise liberal national press, who more and more fail to tell the truth about anything, especially when it comes to holding those accountable who are driving the train.
The real problem created by socialism can be seen in this simple illustration. When you have more people riding in the wagon than you do pulling it, pretty soon those doing the pulling get tired and decide to either ride or quit pulling, and our government simply borrows more money. Sometime back a friend sent me another great illustration that should help even the most ardent skeptic see the consequences of the continuing slide toward socialism in our country.
“An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, as it would be a great equalizer. The professor then said, ‘OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism’. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
“As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and those who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride, too, so they studied little. The second test average was D! No one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an F.
“The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail, because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when the government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.”
This illustration really places socialism into perspective. Nothing could be simpler than that. We must constantly be reminded that our government has nothing that it does not first take from its citizens or borrow from someone else. Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, said it best “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
If you have never thought about it, one of the greatest documents in our nation’s history is called “The Declaration of Independence.”
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)